Powerful Video Shows The Reality Of A Western Woman Facing The Same Challenges As A HIV-Positive Mother In Africa

Many of us will never know what it's like to be a HIV-positive mother in Africa, and all the challenges that entails. But one powerful video has taken the unknown and delivered it to our very own doorstep by featuring a western woman undergoing the same hardships.

The short film, created by mothers2mothers, projects the the tragic tale of not one but millions of HIV-positive mothers living in Africa onto a setting we can all more readily relate to: right here in the UK.

Powerful, hard-hitting and uncomfortable to watch, 'A World Apart' taps into a great well of empathy as we are forced to confront the question: what if this happened to us?

"You try to hide it, but they can see something's wrong...
The clinic is miles away, you have no choice but to walk...
Then you wait for hours to see someone before they test you...
They tell you that you have HIV and that you could pass it on to your unborn baby...
You get back late, and you have to tell you family...
You give birth alone, all alone...
6 weeks later you have to walk back to the clinic and the only thing on your mind is whether your baby will survive...
That waiting and not knowing is the worst part of it all."

But mothers2mothers, who work to eliminate the transmission of HIV from mother-to-child, say that passing HIV from mother-to-child during pregnancy can be prevented.

"Effective and inexpensive medical interventions are available that can keep mothers and babies healthy," the organisation's website explains.

"Without these interventions, up to 40% of infants born to HIV-positive mothers will contract the virus. With treatment, that number can be reduced to 2%."

mothers2mothers has reached more than one million mothers in nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The organisation trains, employs, and empowers mothers living with HIV to eliminate transmission and improve the health of women, their partners and families. Working alongside doctors and nurses in understaffed health centres as members of the healthcare team, these Mentor Mothers provide essential health education and psychosocial support.